GPS, Map, and Vehicle tracking

GPS, Map, and Vehicle tracking

Commusoft's Real-Time Vehicle Tracking allows field service businesses to see thelive location of vans from within their job management software. You can also access so much more, with vehicle trip history, safe driving data, and the engineer profile portal. This provides an enhanced offering compared to simple GPS systems, by providing a comprehensive solution that links engineer tracking data with your diary, scheduling tools, and job information.

We use GPS trackers which are fitted to the engineers vehicles, so you can rely on accurate location data at all times. We offer both self-install (plug in) and professional-install (wired in) trackers for purchase. These vehicle trackers are not only highly precise, but they can’t run out of battery or be left behind at a work site, unlike offerings reliant on mobile phone GPS. This means there are no blind spots in your tracking data - even when the device is in an area with no signal - the tracking data will upload as soon as signal returns, so you will always know where your vehicle has been. Please view this article to see how to use the trackers: GPS Setup and Configuration

Map view

Our brand new diarymap view allows office staff to view jobs on the map, quickly seeing the scheduled time and which jobs belong to which engineer. Click on the appointment time to view expanded details on the job or click on the engineer's image to view their schedule for the day in the sidebar - you can also quickly add jobs from the sidebar.

This feature is available for Paperless Office users and above, regardless of whether you implement real-time vehicle tracking. If you do use our tracking software, you will be able to see each of your engineers' locations, whether they are currently moving, their live speed, and their altitude.

Between two times

You can opt to view engineer locations on the map in real-time or between two times. Real-time is the current live location, based on the vehicle tracker's GPS data. Between two times allows you to see the previous routes taken by engineers between two selected times on any day. For example, you may wish to see where your vehicles went yesterday between 6pm and 11pm.

Simply click 'Between two times' and select the time frame you wish to see from the dropdown menu. You'll now see the routes each driver took mapped out in front of you. This is helpful for making sure that your vehicles are not being used outside of hours without permission, plus provides oversight of the routes engineers took between jobs. The starting place is the red icon, and the end is green.

Trip history records

The data for GPS tracking is stored in reporting so you can look at it later. The real-time tracking is combined with their actions such as 'travel', 'arrive', and 'leave' times (as reported via Commusoft) to create a timeline of the engineer's day. You can click each activity to see more details on where they were at the time.

The Driver Timeline can provide you with true oversight of how engineers report their time compared with their actual travel. This can help you get a handle on misreporting of job times and unauthorised travel during the day, helping you make your business more efficient.

Safe driving and vehicle handling data

Our dedicated GPS trackers use a built-in accelerometer to accurately measure the way a vehicle is being driven - important for both vehicle maintenance and overall safety.

You can access this data by going to Reporting > Users > and select the report you wish to view, then filter accordingly using the tools at the top of the page.

You can view distance travelled and average speed. With enhanced insight into vehicle handling, you can be aware if your engineers are speeding, excessively cornering, excessively accelerating or excessively braking, all of which can negatively impact your vehicle’s condition and increase associated costs.

The Behaviour per day graph is a great way to see the number of recorded instances of each driving behaviour, over the past week.

The reports shown so far are for individual drivers, however, you can also see data side-by-side for all your drivers in the GPS Leaderboard report. This is a fantastic tool for comparing vehicle handling within your team and quickly seeing who is treating their van properly and who isn't. Commusoft analyses the multiple driver behaviours and calculates an overall driving score for each driver. Consider incentivising your staff with a reward for best driver score each month - reducing behaviours that negatively impact your vehicles.

Engineer Profile Portal

The profile portal is a link that can be sent to the job address within the engineer travel sms to show the property occupant that the engineer is on his way, with an ETA and his official numbers like Gas Sage ID or OFTEC registration.

Our Engineer Profile Portal is available in two versions - with Real-Time Vehicle Tracking - and without. The basic version of the portal lets the customer know who they are expecting - but if used in conjunction with our vehicle tracking feature, the portal will also incorporate tracking data.

This lets your customer not only see who they are expecting, but when they are expected (with an ETA in minutes) and can track the engineer's location on a map. When your engineer is on the last-leg of their journey to the property, they can send a text to the customer with a link to access the engineer profile portal. Customers will surely appreciate this considerate touch and it can also help reduce no-access jobs, by giving the customer more accurate information on your expected arrival.